What man was ever content with one crime?
—Juvenal, c. 125
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Quotes
Those who give the first shock to a state are the first overwhelmed in its ruin; the fruits of public commotion are seldom enjoyed by him who was the first mover; he only beats the water for another’s net.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580France has neither winter, summer, nor morals—apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.
—Mark Twain, 1879Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape.
—Erich Fromm, 1947Night affords the most convenient shade for works of darkness.
—John Taylor, 1750Such then is the human state, that to wish greatness for one’s country is to wish harm to one’s neighbors.
—Voltaire, 1764Civilization, a much-abused word, stands for a high matter quite apart from telephones and electric lights.
—Edith Hamilton, 1930Our entire history is merely the history of the waking life of man; nobody has yet considered the history of his sleeping life.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, c. 1780The pleasure we hold in esteem for the course of our lives ought to have a greater share of our time dedicated to it; we should refuse no occasion nor omit any opportunity of drinking, and always have it in our minds.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580I have always been of the mind that in a democracy, manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie knife.
—James Russell Lowell, 1873Where shall I, of wandering weary, find my resting place at last?
—Heinrich Heine, 1827Who sees all beings in his own self, and his own self in all beings, loses all fear.
—The Upanishads, c. 800 BCI prefer liberty with unquiet to slavery with quiet.
—Sallust, c. 35 BC